Mission

The Meland Foundation was organized in 1981 as a Tax-Exempt organization classified under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

OBJECTIVES

The Foundation seeks to identify and understand the hazards and adverse factors affecting the Families of America and each family member.

We are concerned about the incidence of violence in America; drug abuse; and academic failure. We are concerned about the many indications that families and family members are not flourishing and are not reaching their highest potential from a physical, intellectual, and psychological point of view.

As we gain more insight into the causes of these failures and more understanding into the dynamics of individual and family life, we respond with concrete programs to promote greater individual and family well being.

CONCEPT

The Foundation is persuaded that physicians, both primary care and specialists, are in a unique position to exert a positive and beneficial effect on families and family members.

The physicians’ role in the education, guidance, and motivation of patients has been limited by a lack of time, a lack of educational and motivational materials, as well as a lack of a vehicle through which the physicians’ influence would flow. The Meland Foundation is an ideal vehicle through which the physicians’ influence could be enhanced.

In addition to the physicians’ office, the Englewood Hospital and Medical Center Library and the Public Libraries are an ideal point of distribution for educational materials and other programs.

The goal of the Foundation is to forge an alliance between the Physician, the Englewood Hospital and Medical Center Library, and the Public Libraries to provide information, guidance, and motivation to patients and their families with the object of having every family member flourish.

STRATEGY – Immediate and Long Range

The Foundation has built a strong relationship with the Physicians of the Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, now an affiliate of The Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

The Foundation seeks to unite physicians and libraries in a dynamic, cooperative effort on behalf of family members and families in Bergen County. The first step in this alliance has been accomplished by the formation of The Network for Medical and Health Information, dedicated to the Physicians and Staff of the Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. This and other Foundation projects are outlined under the heading “Programs”.

As we build a successful model, in Bergen County NJ, of a small foundation, a prestigious hospital, physicians, and libraries working together to meet the needs of families and family members, we would expect that other communities and counties across America would be encouraged to do the same. These foundations could assist each other and be networked under an umbrella – Family Foundations of America.

PROGRAMS

The Foundation operates four major program areas: 1) “Hang on, Hester!” — Hope and Encouragement for Children 2) medical information for families 3) Nursing Scholarships and 4) The Karen Hanson Compassion Awards.